

✓ 














































































































































- 
















































































« 





































. ■ \f * . V, 









' 



















III 






















































AN ALGONQUIN SYLLABARY 


BY 

WILLIAM JONES 


[Reprinted from the Boas Memorial Volume] 


NEW YORK 
1906 





33. of D. 
JUN 10 3916 



Press cf 

The New Era prsnting Company 
Lancaster, Pa. 


in 


/ 


AN ALGONQUIN SYLLABARY. 

BY WILLIAM JONES. 

CURSIVE style of writing by means of syllabic symbols 



ii is employed by the Sauk, Fox, and Kickapoo for pur¬ 
poses of record and communication. Most of the Sauk are in 
eastern Oklahoma; nearly all the Fox are in central Iowa; 
and the Kickapoo are to be found in central Oklahoma, in 
eastern Kansas, and over the Texas border in Mexico. All 
three are Algonquin; and their dialects are so intimately akin, 
that it is little or no difficulty for them to understand one 
another; and back and forth with one another they correspond 
by means of letters written in the phonetic signs of the syllabary. 

The general appearance of the symbols of the syllabary is 
not very unlike cursive, Roman characters. The symbols rep¬ 
resent four vowels and eleven consonants. The value of each 
symbol is collective; that is to say, the sign of a vowel repre¬ 
sents a group of related vowel-sounds, and it stands for either 
a short or a long quantity, and the sign of a consonant may 
include more than one variation of a certain place of articula¬ 
tion. These points will come out plainly in the description of 
the symbols. The first to come are the vowels, and they are 
given with approximate English correspondences. 

ce or ^^is like a in what, or like a in all, or like the vowel-sound in 
hut. The regular place for ce is within the word or at the end 
of it, and ^ always occupies initial position, 
is like e in let, or a in late, or like a in alley. 

^ is like the short i in it, like the long vowel-sound in see. 
t?-is like the short o in fellow, or like the short u in full, or like the 
long o in rose, or like the long vowel-sound in loon. 


8 9 


WILLIAM JONES 


There is no sign to indicate a diphthong. When the double 
sound is encountered, the sign of the first vowel is used. 

In the description of the signs of the consonants, it may 
prove simpler to give the signs with approximate English equiv¬ 
alents, and afterwards to point out some of the various articu¬ 
lations which a part of them represent. The signs of the con- 


sonants are — 



/, > ike 

p in pen. 

If/, like w in we. 

jf ■ 

t in ten. 

? n , “ m in me. 

it 

s in see. 

■rt , “ n in no. 

ft, “ 

sh in she. 

Ji, “ k in kill. 


ch in church. 

$, “ q in quit. 

D, “ 

y in you. 



There are at least three slightly different articulations \vith 
each of the consonants /, and Ji; / may be almost like the 

sonant b in bun; or most often it may be like p in pit; and it may 
be a bilabial stop preceded by a whispered continuant before 
articulation. In the same way, may be nearly like d in day, or 
like the voiceless t in ten; it may also represent a dental stop 
preceded by a gentle puff of breath. And so with the sign 
can be for a stop nearly like the sonant g in gun, or like the k 
in kill; as in the case of the other two consonants, it may repre¬ 
sent a stop preceded by a hiss of breath. 

There is no sign for the very common aspirate h. 

It will thus be observed that the syllabary lacks in two very 
important features: it is weak in its range of expression, and it 
wants in delicate gradation of sound. 

It is common to associate the consonants in combination with 
vowels; and in learning the syllabary, the vowels are told off 
first, and afterwards the consonants in combination with the 
vowels. The order followed is not vowel and then each conso¬ 
nant one after the other with that vowel, but first all the vowels, 
and then one consonant at a time in connection with all the 
four vowels. The order of the symbols is usually as follows. 





AN ALGONQUIN SYLLABARY 90 


CO d 

& 

■C 

€7- 

/of. 


& 


c/cO 

c/c 



JOO/ 



ydor 

<£co 

c€c 

c£o 

c£or 


Jk 


<Mcr 


Je 


3or 

■oo^c 

-use 

'tV'O 

OOrtT 

mcc 

'?nc 

■mo 

-mor 

-rtco 

no. 

<no' 

nor 

JCe 

/Co 

/Cor 

s* 

r 


r 

The symbols are 

sometimes modified for hidden motives. A 

simple form of the modification 

occurs with change of vowel 

only: in this change there is no sign for«or^/; 

a low dot (.) 

represents e, a raised dot (') stands for i; and two low dots (..) 

are for or. In this slightly altered form, the syllabary then 
appears as follows: — 

/ 

/. 

/* 

2. 

Jt 

jf. 

y 

y . 

ot 


j % 

j.. 

& 

<£. 

a* 


Jtt 


Jt' 

otf. . 

9 

9 . 

O' 

9 .. 

a/ 

u/. 

u/’ 

too. . 

■m 

on. 

m’ 

77Z. . 

'70 

ro. 

n * 

n .. 



ye* 

ye.. 

8 

8. 

8* 

8.. 


A much wider modification occurs with complete alteration 
of both vowel and consonant. In the vowels, tt and ^become 
X, £ becomes h, i becomes hH, v becomes f+H. In the conso- 



9 1 


WILLIAM JONES 


nants, / becomes +, ^/becomesC*^ becomes Q,c£ becomes 
becomes £ , J becomes — , u/ becomes ZZ > m becomes 
HE , n becomes Tfc, becomes Cand £ becomes 2C- The 
syllabary then takes on this form: — 


X 

H 

+h 

H-H 

+x 

+ H 

+w 

1 I 1 l l 

» till 

Cx 

Ch 

Cm 

Ch* 

Ox 

&H 

Qw 

Own 

/tx 

A H 

/tW 

A H* 

K* 

w 

rtH 

nfH 

n 

rutH 

- X 

= H 

— M 


zz* 

ZZh 

ZZm 

ZZm 

EE* 

HEh 

EEm 


ttx 

ttH 

tfm 

ttl+H 

Ci 

C'h 

Cm 

Ch* 

2Cx 

ZCh 

ecm 

ZChhH 


This is a rather brief description of the phonetics of the syl¬ 
labary, but perhaps ample enough for a clear understanding of 
its general character. The working of the syllabary can rap¬ 
idly be shown in the same brief manner; and it can best be exem¬ 
plified by means of a text. It will there be observed that there 
are no marks indicating accent, and that there are only four 
signs for punctuation: the period (.), the short dash (-), the 
multiplication-sign ( X ), or the plus-sign ( + ). The period 
or the dash separates words and word-sentences, and the multi¬ 
plication-sign or the plus-sign marks the end of sentences. 

The text is a short historical fragment. It fits into a familiar 
legend known to most southern Algonquin, — a legend that 
refers to a time when it was believed that all the Algonquin 
were one people and together. The incident here recited is 
given with the symbols of the regular form of the syllabary 
and in the dialect of the Fox; and an interlinear translation 
follows with it. 


AN ALGONQUIN SYLLABARY 


9 2 


«'VV&- ~K<r /HHru ^ <^^Co -/Cl’ Co -^do¬ 
lt was once on a time they say long ago Red-Earth (people) 

0 ^ 60 . **V ft' US~Cs Cv % -4? c£o d?-U. toii. Jit,, . .£ IxxU. UrC. "Kg tvTo Jix 

they that were young they went to ' to a place where they 

in growth hunt for game went to pass the night out. 

V* <£cu. us%\, U& x <♦*'Vio ^ ^< 0 'kuJ&vu'TZi. 

A bear there they killed. The story is part of them they boiled it 

told that 

n*»vc* 4Ls AuC / -£cL -*w x ‘Gz- <? to •vvnr anv 2CT. «e -ZZZ. 

the bear foot; after they had finished they then ate it all up. 

cooking it, 

AL&. dju SUJT 'dLx « ■&*)£. c*. usu. *CLi. . 

They that were absent when they came back, 

jL^tedU ZG 9 JL To 'f'U &Z d. a. ^^ A*’ 

was by that time lo they must have eaten it all up the bear foot. 

ZZ U>4 tt/V "3T . ^ ^4. USZ< ZZk. X <t» lU Alt’ ■< t u*fic . 

Thereupon they sulked, then they separated. They truly they 

si/K a. Ai yicL Ut. JTct otrtt -ttl, fit", , & ^Vt£. "7Zc 'fCt* X 

bear foot they that sulked such are they called. 

£. 7Ccc *VL«. ZZC ’ Vkv 2 - ^ZT . 'LL- . ■&■ t'-.ttrt urt*. -ttc . 

Stories are told of them ; it is said that where they are 

JZ cc £/*t. ni - efc 4^*. cCt, £-<. £0 urts . UfZ^ Mx (v<* 

at the end of the place where the big river. Over the high land. 

/itt 4CC a '(io '*+** . **'K£ txru. 'IZc. i^C C yr 

they are bear foot they that sulked. 

A rather free rendering of the tale reads as follows: — 

It is said that once on a time long ago some youths of the Red- 
Earths (Foxes) started on a hunt for game, and went to a place where 


93 


WILLIAM JONES 


they were to be out over night. There they slew a bear. It is said 
that some of them boiled a foot of the bear; and after they had finished 
cooking it, they then ate it up. Now, when they that were absent 
came back, lo, by that time the bear-foot must have been eaten up. 

Thereupon they (who came late) sulked, and so parted company 
(from the others). They truly are the ones that are called They-who- 
sulked-on-Account-of-the-Bear-Foot. Stories are told of them; it is said 
that they now are on the other side of the height of land where the 
source of the Mississippi River is. They are the Bear-Foot Sulkers. 

A syllabary was in use among some Algonquin at a very 
early period. One was used by Eliot at Natick in his missionary 
labors with that Massachusetts dialect; another was used by 
LaCombe and other Jesuit missionaries in their work among 
the Ojibwa and the Cree of Canada. The syllabary em¬ 
ployed by Eliot was in Roman letters, and the one used by 
LaCombe and others was and still is in what are called “ Cree 
characters.” 

The adoption of the syllabary by the Sauk, Fox, and Kick- 
apoo is of very recent date. It is not certain at present which 
of these dialects was the first to take it up; but the one that was 
the first to learn it no doubt quickly taught it to the other two. 
• It seems pretty certain, also, that the system was deliberately 
borrowed from an outside source, most likely from an Algon¬ 
quin people that had had experience with the writings of Chris¬ 
tian missionaries. It shows no trace of development from the 
old figurative representations, realistic or conventional, to the 
phonetic scale. The old form of writing is rarely practised 
these days, and the jump from the old to the new must have 
been sudden. The syllabary is in general use among the 
younger people and by a limited number of the more elderly. 
Boys and girls handle it with more ease and speed than the 
older folk. 























































* 

- 



























































































' 






















































































































































































































































































































































































































































































